NBC’s Todd Vents on White House Beat Frustrations

NBC News White House Correspondent Chuck Todd vented frustrations toward the strictures of covering the presidency on Friday, saying it frustrates reporters’ First Amendment instincts.

“I have to say, nothing is more frustrating than covering an an actual event here at the White House if you at all believe in anything remotely having to do with the First Amendment,” Todd wrote Friday morning on MSNBC’s “First Read” blog.

Todd, who was recently assigned to the White House beat to cover the Obama administration, admitted that while he may be new at the gig, the careful management and staging of presidential events prevents White House reporters from asking questions to event participants, like this morning’s East Room address to business leaders.

“This beat has a lot of limitations; security takes precedent over access to much of the inner-workings of this place and it’s understandable in many instances,” he wrote. “But public events like the one the president held today ought to allow the press a tad more access to these guests who are apparently involved in some of the people’s business of the day.”

Todd argued that the careful management does not have to be that way because it has always been that way, and warned of backlash from journalists (a-la the Bush administration) if the Obama administration tries to excessively control its message.